556 



THE MOURXIXG DOVE. 



some cases at least. iiK-uh.iiinii w.-is pcrfDrmed b\ the bird seated casually on 

 horizontal limbs withntu icmmi ti> nesting. Theix'to partially agrees the testi- 

 mony of a rancher in Whatcom County, who tells me that he once shot a 

 Pigeon which was sitting in a maple tree in front of his house. The bird fell 



tumbling and struggling 



and struck on its back: and when he went to pick it 

 up he found an unbroken egg be- 

 side it, an egg which bore no sign 

 of ha\ing l)een recently extruded. 

 Incubation, accortling to Captain 

 Bendire. lasts from eighteen to 

 twenty days and both parents 

 assist. The }"0ung grow rapidly, 

 and leave the nest at the end of a 

 month. 



While it may be freely admitted 

 that the Band-tailed Pigeon is a 

 fair game bird, and affords excel- 

 lent eating in the fall, it is high 

 time to call a halt u])on its indis- 

 criminate slaughter. The species is 

 not liardy nor prolific, and at the 

 present rate of consumption it will 

 soon be as rare as the Passenger 

 Pigeon of the East. Let us not 

 wait for clums\' and tardv laws u]>()n the suljject. lint let common sense prevail 

 over individual selfishness. Instead of feasting on Pigeon pot-pie weekly, or 

 until it becomes a common])lace. let the lumters of the few favored localities 

 which remain content themsehes with a half-day's shooting, a mess of ten 

 or a dozen birds each season. And remember, if }'iiu jilease. that the rest 

 of us like Pigeon, too. 



B.^N'D-TAII.Kn PIGEON". 



No. 224. 



MOURNING DOVE. 



A. O. U. No. 316. Zenaidiira macroiira carolinensis (I^inn.). 



Synonyms. — Wild Dove. Turtle Dove. Carolina Dove. 



Description. — Adult male: General color of upperparts olive-gray or drab, 

 with glaucous bloom and changeable metallic reflections on hind-neck and ante- 

 rior marginal areas of wings ; with bright purplish red iridescence on the sides 

 of the neck; the lower scapulars and inner quills broadly but sparingly black- 

 spotted : hind head bhiish slate : remainder of head light drab with a vinaceous 



